Cassie

Cassandra Ventura was born in New London, Connecticut, in 1986. The daughter of an African-American mother and a Filipino father, Cassie attended the preparatory Williams School, located on the Connecticut College campus in her hometown. She began modeling when she was fourteen, and by the time she was sixteen, Cassie was modeling for local department stores, Delia's fashion catalogue, and Seventeen magazine. At the same time, Cassie was training as a singer and dancer. Encouragement from producer Rockwilder prompted Cassie to take formal voice lessons. Since her school had a performing arts program, Cassie took some modern ballet, although she wanted to take on more urban dance styles like jazz and hip-hop. For a while, Cassie's performing had to take a backseat to her homework as long as she was in school. When she finished high school in 2004, she didn't want to go to college like the rest of her peers. Instead, Cassie put her heart into moving to New York City so she could make it in the real world.

On its release, "Me & U" proved to be a massive hit, particularily in the U.S. It reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100, number four on the Billboard Pop 100, and number one on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Follow-up single "Long Way 2 Go" was far less successful, peaking at ninety-seven on the Billboard Hot 100. The album sold 300,000 copies in the U.S.

She made an appearance in the Kanye West music video "Stronger". She appeared in the film Step Up 2, and recorded a song for its soundtrack.